The South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) last week suffered yet another blow of military defections, with over 4,000 officers and men led by Maj. Gen. Nyuop Kuol Nyuop and Maj. Gen. Samuel Mabor Mayen, switching allegiance to the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and other organized forces in Juba.
The defectors, totaling 4,410, include police, wildlife officers, National Security Services personnel, prison officers and warders, and fire brigade service staff who were trained and stationed across various sites in Pantit, Masna Biira, Tufagia, and Alel in Western Bahr el Ghazal and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states.
Speaking during a ceremony to receive them in Juba on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Samuel Mabor Mayen, the commander of the defecting forces, said they switched sides after realizing that they are soldiers and not politicians.
“We renounce all duties previously assigned to us in the military and security mechanisms, and on behalf of SSOA, we are now members of the organized forces under the command and control of Commander-in-Chief and Supreme Commander of all Organized forces, President Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit,” he said. “We call upon all forces who graduated with us under SSOA, as well as other opposition forces in the region of Upper Nile, Bahr el Ghazal, and Equatoria to take the same position of disengagement completely, and declare their full allegiance to President Kiir.”
For his part, David John Kumuri, the spokesperson of the National Security Service’s (NSS) Internal Security Bureau (ISB), welcomed the forces, assuring them of safety and security.
“The NSS informs the public that it has received additional SSOA forces after declaring allegiance and subsequent defection to the South Sudan government,” he announced. “The forces are 4,410 and were part of SSOA and stationed in Pantit and Masna Biira military training centers with a total number of 2,380, and Tufagia and Alel military training centers in Greater Bahr el Ghazal with a total number of 2,280, respectively.”
SSOA officials in the transitional government could not immediately be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Ter Manyang Gatwech, Executive Director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), said these military defections not only undermine the peace agreement’s security arrangement but security of the state.
“The massive defection from one party to another is not healthy for the country,” he stated. “First of all, there is a motivation, and maybe those people are encouraged to rejoin another party, which is not good for the country.”
SSOA is a signatory to the 2018 peace agreement, which established a unity government in 2020 and mandates the formation of a unified army before elections.